Survivor2018
Bronze Member
Good morning everyone,
I have been reading the posts on this forum for many years and the support everyone provides for others experiencing trauma is so positive I wanted to try my hand at asking for advice.
I am a cancer survivor and I have PTSD and anxiety disorder; for a few years I have received really positive support from my community and therapists and it has really helped put me in a great place.
With that said, I am having a difficult time navigating the ptsd of my significant other. We have not been together in a relationship very long (4 months) but we were friends for a long time and I never knew he had it. He went through a divorce which brought up negative feelings of trauma and hurt which have triggered his ptsd, from a trauma he experienced during his military service. He went from being an active part of my life, (long phone calls for hours, texts, dates, besties) to shaking uncontrollably, no conversations, hardly looks at me, never talks to me and even worse, he is no longer affectionate whatsoever.
This has been really frustrating because I was perfectly fine being friends and not wanting any thing more but he pushed to be together and now his ptsd has taken that away. Having ptsd myself, I understand but I deal with it differently and I don't withdraw from him, so this has been the hardest part.
I want to be supportive and be there for him, but he has pushed me so far away I feel myself growing irritated, resentful and very exhausted from it all. I don't want him to feel alone and like he doesn't have support, but what am I supposed to do when he doesn't even see me? Thanks for any advice I greatly appreciate it!
I have been reading the posts on this forum for many years and the support everyone provides for others experiencing trauma is so positive I wanted to try my hand at asking for advice.
I am a cancer survivor and I have PTSD and anxiety disorder; for a few years I have received really positive support from my community and therapists and it has really helped put me in a great place.
With that said, I am having a difficult time navigating the ptsd of my significant other. We have not been together in a relationship very long (4 months) but we were friends for a long time and I never knew he had it. He went through a divorce which brought up negative feelings of trauma and hurt which have triggered his ptsd, from a trauma he experienced during his military service. He went from being an active part of my life, (long phone calls for hours, texts, dates, besties) to shaking uncontrollably, no conversations, hardly looks at me, never talks to me and even worse, he is no longer affectionate whatsoever.
This has been really frustrating because I was perfectly fine being friends and not wanting any thing more but he pushed to be together and now his ptsd has taken that away. Having ptsd myself, I understand but I deal with it differently and I don't withdraw from him, so this has been the hardest part.
I want to be supportive and be there for him, but he has pushed me so far away I feel myself growing irritated, resentful and very exhausted from it all. I don't want him to feel alone and like he doesn't have support, but what am I supposed to do when he doesn't even see me? Thanks for any advice I greatly appreciate it!
